


seeking the truth

by Ashtheshortstack



Series: seeking the truth [1]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen, Post D-Stabilized, Pre-Phantom Planet, Sort of a Reveal Fic, Valerie POV, Valerie-Centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:22:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28698366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ashtheshortstack/pseuds/Ashtheshortstack
Summary: Now that Valerie knew the truth about Vlad Masters... Danny Phantom had some questions to answer.
Series: seeking the truth [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103624
Comments: 6
Kudos: 105





	1. Truth of Vlad Masters

Humiliation… Guilt… Shame… Fury… Each emotion swirled through Valerie like the five stages of grief on a marathon. The anger was most prominent. Vlad Masters played her like a fool. How dare he!? She was a teenager whose life was in shambles, and he’d taken advantage of her pain! Conned her into believing that Phantom was the enemy. 

Not that Phantom hadn’t actually screwed up her life. Because he did. She’d later learned after fighting her fair share of ghosts that the ghost dog did break out of the Ghost Zone on occasion. Maybe, it had just been easier to blame Phantom for ruining her father’s career than to accept that a lot of it was an accident. When she was handcuffed to the ghost boy, she’d realized he was basically just a stupid kid himself. 

What idiots they both were, huh? 

Valerie flopped down on her bed, tears stinging her eyes. She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t give him that. The one adult on this planet she thought understood her. Thought really had her back and was on her side… It was all a lie. Just another ghost using her for personal gain. Damn, she  _ hated _ ghosts. Why did she live in Amity Park of all places? Clearly, the most haunted town in America. (Thanks to the Fentons, she was almost sure.) 

But what did she really know? Nothing made any sense. Humans can be ghosts? Ghosts can be humans? What the hell was that all about? How was that even possible? 

Groaning, Valerie buried her face in her pillow. “I have to talk to Phantom,” she muttered to herself. 

He said he’d be “ready to play” the next day. Maybe, there needed to be less gun and ghost ray blasts and more sharing time. She had to understand how Danielle was “related” to him if she was human. Unless… Phantom wasn’t all ghost himself? 

...There was no way she was getting a restful night's sleep. 

Valerie wasn’t sure when she fell asleep, but she was definitely jarred awake by the sound of her ghost detection device blaring loudly. Yelping, she sat straight up in her bed and quickly opened the tracker to see the blinking dot on the screen. The ghost wasn’t too far from her home. Maybe it was Phantom? Even if it wasn’t, he’d probably show up anyway. The ghost boy never seemed to be able to resist a fight. Playing hero all of the time… 

It was that stupid Box Ghost again. Despite how annoying she found Phantom’s smartass quips to be, the prior was the worst of them all. Phantom was already sucking the ghost into the Fenton Thermos (which she still idly wondered where he had acquired one) by the time she finally approached the scene. 

Phantom capped off the thermos while staring at her. His mouth was agape, those neon green eyes wide in surprise. “U-Um. Hi? Not that I’m complaining, but you’re not shooting me? I thought we called the truce off.” 

Valerie pursed her lips, eyes hard as she squinted at him. How on earth would she convince him to discuss anything with her? They were enemies. The last twenty-four hours--despite changing her life  _ a lot-- _ didn’t change that. “We need to talk.” 

“ _ Talk? _ ” he asked with a stunned scoff. “This is new. You’ve never been much of a Chatty Kathy. Except when you’re zapping me for answers--you’re not going to zap me for answers again, are you?” 

Why was he like this!? It took every bit of her to keep her temper in check. 

Crossing her arms, Valerie took a breath. “Look, I know Vlad Masters is Vlad Plasmius.” 

Well,  _ that _ got his attention. All humor was suddenly drained from his face. He was--well--pale as a ghost for a lack of a better term. Those green eyes hardened. “How’d you find out?” 

“After you and Danielle left, I went back to check on Mr. Mas-- _ Vlad  _ and saw him transform. Heard him talking about his whole jacked up plan about melting down Danielle too. I need answers, Phantom, and I expect you to corporate.” 

Sighing, his shoulders slumped slightly. “I’m guessing if I don’t come willingly, you’re just going to bring out the literal big guns, huh?”

Valerie just smirked in response. 

“Fine,” Phantom groaned, ruffling a gloved hand through his hair. “But there will be some things I can’t answer--for my own safety, okay?” 

“Deal.” 

They found a building to sit on. It was out of sight from the peeping public, so no one in Amity could just ask why the ghost boy was hanging out with the Red Huntress for the evening. Plus, if her dad found out… he’d have her ass. 

Phantom leaned against the brick. “What do you want to know?” 

“How long has Vlad Masters been a ghost?” she asked. 

“Since college.” 

“That long?” 

Phantom snorted. “How do you think he got loaded? He overshadowed tycoons and robbed banks.” 

Valerie almost couldn’t believe it. But she’d seen him transform with her own eyes. How someone she had admired could be so low. Not just a filthy ghost, but a legitimate criminal. 

There was a tightness in her chest. She felt so  _ guilty _ . Phantom had tried to warn her, hell Danielle even warned her. But she was so dead set in her hatred for Phantom and her trust in Vlad that she refused to listen. 

“So, you and Vlad have this--rivalry?” 

Snorting, Phantom shook his head. “You don’t know the half of it. He… He’s weirdly obsessed with me. He wants me to be his son and take over the world with him.” 

“That’s--crazy.” 

“Yeah, he’s a crazed up fruit loop.” 

Valerie snickered at that. Could it have always been this way? Could she and Phantom have gotten along like this if she’d just… listened? 

“Well, I’d say we have a common enemy now.” 

His brows shot up. “Really?” 

“Yeah, definitely. Can’t have anyone as powerful as Vlad as both a ghost and a human running around. Especially as our mayor,” she paused, “which does lead me to my next question. Do all of the ghosts know that he’s human?” 

Phantom nodded slowly. “Yeah, the Ghost Zone knows about halfas.” 

Valerie blinked. “‘Halfas?’” 

“Uh… nothing.” 

“There’s more half ghosts? Besides Vlad and Danielle?” 

Phantom suddenly wasn’t answering. He pursed his lips, staying silent. Valerie wasn’t stupid. They both knew that. She was able to put two and two together. 

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” 

He wouldn’t meet her gaze. 

Valerie felt like the wind had been knocked out of her. A rug swept out from beneath her. Literally everything she thought she knew about ghosts wasn’t true. Some ghost hunter she was. Did the Fentons know of half ghosts? Maybe, she could ask Danny? 

“You’re… human?” 

“I can’t…” he swallowed, “I can’t answer that.” 

But he was answering. She knew it. Phantom was human too. 


	2. false positive

Danny Phantom was only half ghost. Which meant all this time she’d been hunting down a human. Not a fully ectoplasmic entity. Valerie’s stomach churned. Phantom didn’t elaborate much after she’d figured him out. She just gave a weak apology and left. He didn’t stop her. 

Phantom’s identity wasn’t her busy. She wouldn’t ask or pry. If he was keeping it a secret then there clearly had to be a reason. Maybe his family… maybe he was protecting someone or something. Why else would he not publicly announce to Amity Park that their ghost hero was actually a human too? 

Valerie needed more information. She needed to understand the dynamics between Vlad and Phantom. Clearly, Phantom knew a lot of details about Vlad, including when he became a “halfa.” 

When Vlad paged her, Valerie felt her heart plummet into her gut. She had to play this carefully. Vlad was a smart man. If she gave him even a whiff of deceit, he’d pick up on it. And her ghost hunting days would be over. Her father would have her served on a platter and she’d never leave her room again. Ground for eternity. 

Valerie arrived in the window of Vlad’s mansion as usual. Her heart pounded, but her brain reminded her to play it cool. To act as she always did. Nothing out of the ordinary. 

“Yes, Mayor Masters?” she asked coolly, remaining calm. 

“Ah, Valerie, there you are. I think we should have a talk about the little incident that occurred the other evening,” he said with his falsely charmed grin. 

Valerie nodded, taking a seat across from his desk. “Yes sir, what would you like to discuss?” 

“Well, I’m sure the existence of half-ghosts was quite a shock to you.” 

She snorted at that. “Yeah, I’ll say. I’m sorry to go against your orders, sir, but it didn’t seem right to hurt that girl.” 

“Oh, I understand completely, child. If I had known of her true nature, I certainly wouldn’t have ordered you to destroy her. I seemed to have gotten her confused with another ghost.” 

Right. As if. Valerie knew better now than to believe the bull spewing out of Vlad Master’s lips. It was so stupid that she’d been fooled all of this time. 

“If you don’t mind me asking, sir, what did Plasmius want with Danielle?” 

Vlad seemed taken aback by the question. His sinister smirk fell, eyebrows raising. “Why, it seemed he wanted to melt her down and study her remains.” 

“How can he do that if she’s human? I understand her ghost-half being unstable like Phantom said, but a human shouldn’t melt like that, should they?” 

Vlad seemed to ponder his response, stroking his chin. “Well, from what I heard… Danielle is a clone.” 

Now, that was news. 

“A clone?” 

“Yes, an imperfect clone.” 

Imperfect? There wasn’t anything wrong with Danielle… unless the person she was supposed to be a clone of was a boy. A boy older than her. Oh… That made sense. Phantom said Vlad was obsessed with him and wanted him to be his son. 

“A clone of Danny Phantom?” she asked. 

Vlad smirked. “Ah, I knew you were a bright girl, Valerie. Yes, Danielle is a clone of Danny Phantom. She isn’t supposed to exist as she is.” 

Valerie held her tongue. There was nothing wrong with Danielle. She didn’t ask to be created by a psychopath like Vlad Masters. She wasn’t a mistake or an imperfection. She was fine just as she was. Especially now that Phantom had stabilized her. 

“So, that means Danny Phantom is also a half-ghost, right?” 

“I don’t know for sure, but it would definitely seem like that’s the case.” 

Valerie dared to ask her next question. “How do you know all of this, Mayor Masters?” 

“I overheard Plasmius while in the closet. Quite the wicked ghost, that one.” 

She almost rolled her eyes at the sound of him tooting his own horn. “Well, if Phantom is a half-ghost then he’s more dangerous than I thought.” 

Vlad seemed a bit stunned at her words. “Yes, very dangerous indeed.” 

“He could be anywhere and we wouldn’t even know it, right? I’ll have to find out who his human half is so I can hunt him down.” 

The mayor seemed to like the sound of that. “Yes, very good idea, my dear. The safety of Amity Park is in your hands.” 

Valerie stood. “You have my word, Mayor Masters, protecting Amity Park is my top priority.” 

And she meant it. Even if it meant protecting the city from their own mayor. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I know this is super short. This fic is only supposed to be like a drabble of thoughts mushed together soooo


	3. finding facts

“Danny!” Valerie called as she approached his locker with a wave. 

He seemed almost stunned to see her. She hadn’t seen him look so nervous around her in a long time. Danny could be very jittery at times, so maybe he was just having one of those days. She couldn’t blame him considering his parents were ghost hunters (and his dad’s best pal was a half-ghost lunatic). 

“Uh,” he glanced at Sam and Tucker before making eye-contact. “Hey, Valerie. What’s up?” 

“Do you think we could talk?” She gave a look to his friends. “In private?” 

Sam crossed her arms. “What’s so important that you can’t talk about it in front of us?” 

Valerie rolled her eyes. “It’s not about you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she turned back to Danny, “or us for that matter. It’s about ghost stuff. I figured you’d know something.” 

Was he sweating? Why was he sweating? Danny sucked in a breath. “Uh, what? W-Why would I know a lot about ghosts?” 

“Because… your parents are ghost hunters?” 

“Oh! Right! Right, I knew that, uh…” 

Valerie cocked a brow. “Danny, are you okay?” 

Tucker stepped in (blocking Sam’s glare) and placed a hand on Danny’s shoulder. “He… just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. You know how he gets when he’s sleep deprived. Why don’t you two go talk--for a bit. We’ll be right over here,  _ right  _ Sam?” 

“Yes,” she hissed looking away, “We’ll be here.” 

“Great!” Valerie beamed before grabbing Danny by the wrist. “Let’s go.” 

Danny was still jumpy when she got him to a picnic table outside. He was so nervous and she couldn’t figure out why. 

“Look, what we’re about to talk about is super secret, and I need you to promise you won’t say anything, okay?” 

“Okay,” Danny said with a nod. 

Valerie sucked in a breath. “Do you know that half-ghosts exist?” 

His eyes went wide at that. “Uh, no. I-I had no idea.” 

“Danny, c’mon, don’t lie to me. I promise this stays between us.” 

Sighing, his head drooped. “Okay, I’ve heard of there being a possibility.” 

“What do you know about them?” 

“Val, I can’t…” 

Valerie pursed her lips. “You’re protecting Phantom, aren’t you?” 

Blinking, he glanced away. “What gave you that idea?” 

“I’ve seen Sam and Tucker around him… it’d be dumb for me not to assume you’re involved too. Can you give me something? Just a little bit?” 

Danny was thinking it over as he watched her. She could practically see so many thoughts rolling around in his mind as he thought about what he would say. Valerie understood that there would be things she wasn’t allowed to know. Things that had to be kept secret. But she hoped Danny trusted her enough to know she wouldn’t tell anyone else. 

“Half-ghosts are usually created by lab accidents… When too much ghost DNA gets fused with human DNA it forms a half ghost. I’m sure there’s a lot more scientific mumbo-jumbo to go with it, but that’d be more my parents’ department and--well…” 

“They don’t know half-ghosts exist?” 

“No. You know how they can be…” 

Valerie nodded, pausing for a moment. “I’m guessing you’re the reason Phantom ends up with a lot of your parents’ gadgets?” 

He snorted. “Yeah, that’s me.” 

“I’m sorry I hunted him for so long… I guess I really didn’t think Phantom was trying to do the right thing.” 

“I…” Danny cleared his throat. “Phantom has messed up a lot, especially when he was learning how to use his ghost powers in the beginning. He doesn’t blame you for hating him. There have been a lot of misunderstandings.” 

“I get that now,” Valerie confessed. “It was easier to hate him than to see the big picture.” 

“Amity Park is Phantom’s home too. He doesn’t want anyone to destroy it either. Or let it get overrun by ghosts.” 

“Yeah… the last few days have been very eye opening and weird.” 

Danny snorted. “I’ll bet.” 

Huh. That was a strange response. 

She looked at him.  _ Really _ looked at him. She took in all of Danny’s features. His nose, his eyes, his hair… Everything she thought she’d really known. But it wasn’t the same, suddenly. Suddenly… Danny Fenton looked like a complete stranger. This boy she had come to have feelings for didn’t look like that person. He looked older. He looked like he’d been through hell and back. 

“Danny, what’s your involvement in all of this? What is it  _ really?” _

There was a sad expression she couldn’t read. Those shining blue eyes were full of dread as he gazed at her. Shaking his head, he grimaced. “I can’t, Val.” 

_ Oh. _

“That’s okay,” she said with a forced smile. 

Valerie placed a hand on his shoulder before sliding off the table. As she walked away, her world tilted around her. Things were locking into place and falling apart simultaneously. She chose to ignore it. This knowledge wasn’t her place to know. There was no confirmation. She didn’t know the truth.

Not yet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be another little drabble that has Danny's POV after this conversation. And then a post-PP sequel.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, hi. It's been a long time since I've written any Danny Phantom fics LOL. This is something I've wanted to write for a while but just never dabbled into it. But I decided for 2021 I'm going to jump back into some fandoms I used to splash around in. 
> 
> This will be 3 parts in Valerie's POV. There will be a bonus chapter posted separately in Danny's POV. Then there will be a conclusion part that is post-Phantom Planet! :)


End file.
